The Amazing Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

The SCOOP! Cool, Easy, Indulgent!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for rich, creamy, ice cream—especially in the hot summer months. The scoop on how to make it all can be found in The Perfect Scoopby David Lebovitz. Now even though this ice cream “guru” provides 256 pages of instructions for wonderful frozen treats, most recipes involve the use of an electric ice cream maker. So we bought a 2–quart Cuisinart CIM 60, and also tested a smaller model, the Cuisinart ICE-25.

The COOL results:Making ice cream is as easy as pie! Actually easier! If you have enough space in your freezer to store the coolant filled canister, your homemade ice cream is just 30 minutes and one flick of an “on” switch away!

And we certainly can help you rationalize the investment in an ice cream maker by explaining, as we see it, the benefits of our purchase. We would be “churning” much healthier ice cream—made without corn syrup and artificial ingredients; we would save money in the long term; and best of all, we would have so much fun creating delicious desserts. Enough said!

Our results:We prefer the 2–quart model to the 1 1/2 quart size. With no extra effort, we made a larger batch…Yummm! After trying several flavors, our favorites are still “good ole” vanilla and chocolate,with add - ins such as caramelized almonds, chocolate chips and snickers candy bars. However, our tasters (2 willing children) voted for vanilla flavored with mint and chocolate chips; made with fresh mint straight from our backyard and an add-in of Ghirardelli chips (Plant some mint in any outdoor container – it grows without effort or expertise!) Some of our preferred toppings are strawberry sauce and, of course, hot fudge with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

We experimented with ice cream mixtures made with heavy cream and whole milk, as well as lower fat versions made with 2% milk and a small amount of cream. All were delicious but, of course, who can resist the full, rich creamy texture!

We haven’t yet tried it, but according to author David Lebovitz, soymilk may be substituted for the dairy products, so we look forward to making parve (dairy free) ice cream! So, it’s a definite, unqualified "YES!" An ice cream freezer is a great addition to a kitchen gadget collection.

The whole scoop on frozen desserts can be found in The Perfect Scoopby David Lebovitz (Ten Speed Press). It’s all there; a step-by-step guide for making creamy ice cream, sorbets, granitas, (shaved ice made from a lightly sweetened fruit puree), yogurt, gelato and more. Complete with the accompanying gooey toppings, mix-ins and flavors. Lebovitz shares easy to follow instructions on how to do-it-yourself!